The December report doesn’t suggest the Fed needs to move more aggressively or slow down in raising interest rates

For the last several years, markets have watched monthly employment reports for signs that job gains would be strong enough for the Federal Reserve to gently raise interest rates.

Now, after several rate increases and with unemployment at a 17-year low, Fed officials face the question of whether joblessness might fall so much that they should pick up the pace of tightening to prevent the economy from overheating.